Though Brutus utilizes stunning imagery, Antony's superior use of rhetoric devices make his speech more effective and persuasive to the commoners. He also successfully discredits Brutus with repeated verbal irony, helping him turn the commoners into his own little army. Antony triggers the audience's emotions with his extreme love for Caesar. He shows that they were so close and connected that his "heart is in the coffin there with Caesar" (3.2). It was as if he had died as well. He makes the audience feel pity for his loss, and begin to sympathize more with Caesar than Brutus. Also, although Antony constantly compliments Brutus, calling him an "honorable man" (3.2.101) continuously, but the way he says it eventually leads the commoners to suspect that he actually means the opposite. Unlike Brutus, who speaks to the plebeians without listening to them, Antony stops and actually takes the audience in to consideration, taking frequent pauses to make sure they understand what he is saying. While Brutus' speech leads to the commoners wanting him to be the new Caesar, Antony get them to be passionate, filling them with "mutiny and rage" (3.2.134), giving them a common enemy. He also makes himself appear to be an underdog, giving the less educated people reasons to trust and listen to him more than Brutus. Because he establishes himself as a "Plain blunt man" (3.2.147), they will not be looking for manipulation from him. The speech given by Antony is more inspirational and effective than the one giving by Brutus, as he plants seeds of doubt and rebellion in their minds with his cunning diction and verbal irony.
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